Customer Ratings & Reviews

I love these Bose Ultra buds and was really surprised how they made the open ear concept work really well. My experience with them are pairing them with my Android devices and will be solely based on that. I cannot stress enough that these Bose are OPEN EAR earbuds and not ones you shove into your ears. I notice a lot of laughable responses to why ANC isn't offered and sound quality is not the same and their "other" pair. That is not a fair and is doing an Apples to Oranges comparison. Coming from someone who daily drives Buds Pro2 and WF1000XM5 and changing to these took me a little bit to get used to. First, I was a little reluctant about the way they "clip" onto your ear lobe and thought there is no way it'll hold up. I was dead wrong. After putting them on they are super lightweight and feel amazing. No stress on the ears from the weight hanging on your ear and absolutely no discomfort after a 5 hour work session. They feel like they are not even there. Perfect 10/10 for comfort. With that being said though, I feared even slightly moving might get them to fall off but the way they clip holds them securely. I could walk, head bang and even turn my head fast and they stayed right in place. Off topic funny fact, my co-workers when seeing me with them on for the first time thought I either had weird piercings or some new design hearing aid. Battery lasted my work shift and charged quickly in the case. One thing to note is that the case is only charged via USB-C and not wireless charging compatible. Sound is a solid 8/10. As they do not go into the ear canal, they are close enough to literally blast music into them. Using the Bose App, you can control the EQ to your specific liking. I found Mids and Treble to be great and Bass, although lacking, not bad at all. This is to be expected as sounds will leak to the environment. In a quiet environment, this instance my house, I had to turn the sound down to ~25% or the people around me can hear exactly what I am listening to. At 60-75% (which is what I preferred), my friend could hear what I was listening to up to ~10ft away with no problems. I also went to an outdoor mall and with the sounds around me, @ 75%, no issues hearing not only my music, but also my surroundings. In a store, I had to turn it down to about 40% to prevent other shoppers from listening in. Calls were okay at best. When receiving a phone call, the other line sounded very muffled to me no matter what settings I tried. It wasn't the best as well vice versa. Though my friends said they could understand me fine, it sounded like I was in a "bubble" to them. These have an IPX4 rating so if it starts to rain cover them up. App is not feature rich, but it is helpful. EQ is the best thing there to tailor to your needs. There is also Immersion, but to me it sounded more like 3D audio. It's nice, but I had no use for it. Also if you have it on, it'll drain your battery faster.

Kinda uncomfortable fit.. the sound is terrible for calls.

Everything is fine but the microphone. Everyone i speak to say i sound muffled.

I'd like to add phone to airboats. It doesn't know it's so cool.

I’ll start off by saying that I am not a fan of most ear buds because having things in my ears hurts my ear canals after a while, so I personally prefer on-ear, over-ear, or open ear device alternatives. The Bose Ultra’s open ear design are truly unique in their execution and are comfortable to wear while providing a clean listening experience that still lets me be aware of my surroundings. These ear buds have an innovative wrap around design that hugs the outer ear just above the ear lobe, looking more like a cuff earring than a set of earphones. No part of it goes into your ear canal; instead the speaker is nestled in the groove of your ear and sound is directed into your ear canal at an upward angle. The fit of the ear buds is one-size, and the flexible soft silicone arm applies light but sufficient spring force to hold the barrel controller behind your ear. While that means there’s no way to customize the fit, you can adjust the positioning of the ear bud by slightly sliding it up or down to find the most comfortable position for you, however, I found that moving it can noticeably change the sound quality. To setup and pair with the ear buds, you’ll need to download and install the Bose Music app to your smart device. From there, setup was fairly straightforward and took only a few minutes. After pairing, you can listen to a demo track that showcase its “Immersive Audio” mode which has two settings, “Still” and “Motion.” These modes give the sound a sense of dimensional space, placing the sound in front of you with stereo separation. The difference between them is that with Still, the sound will project from a fixed location even as you turn your head; though note that if you face a different direction long enough, the spatial positioning will update and re-center on you. With Motion the sound follows you, so that it keeps its position relative to you which is better if you’ll be moving around a lot. You also have the option to turn immersive mode off (aka stereo mode), which can help extend battery life, but I found the sound to be a little flatter and confined to my headspace. The sound from these ear buds overall is pleasing and enveloping while still allowing you to hear other sounds in your environment. The audio is clean and clear with a light and airy quality, likely due to the open design. As for bass, it’s apparent but not overly pronounced. At moderate to low volume levels there’s virtually no sound bleeding, and folks standing a few feet from you won’t be able to hear what you’re listening to. However, when you turn up the volume it can get quite loud, and while you could effectively block out all other sounds, that sort of defeats the main benefit to having an open ear design. Plus, at higher volumes, sound can bleed quite a bit, making what you’re listening to perceptible to bystanders, and I feel the quality distorts with overly bright trebles and muddy midranges. One of the things that I liked about these is that when no audio is playing, the ear buds go silent and don’t produce any hiss of white noise during standby. The drawback is that it takes a split second for them to wake up, so notification sounds from your device may get slightly clipped. However, the low-latency 5.3 Bluetooth protocol also makes them great for watching video content with perfectly synced audio. These are slightly water resistant too, with an IPX4 rating, so would be fine for a sweaty workout and survive a drizzle. Each ear bud has a single physical click-button on the top of the barrel that wraps behind your ear. You need to press down on the button to use it as it is not a touch control. There are five key combinations for the controls including single, double, and triple clicks for play/pause and track skipping, as well as long-press (shortcut) and short press followed by a long press for volume control. The shortcut function can be customized to cycle through modes, immersive audio setting, source selection, or activate an AI voice assistant; you can perform different shortcut actions for the left and right ear buds. Listening modes are presets that you can select based on your environment and preference. The two pre-configured ones are simply Stereo and Immersion, though you can define up to eight custom modes, for example, for when you’re home, on a run, or during your commute. The only thing you’re really changing though is the Immersion mode and not a custom EQ profile. While you can adjust the bass, mid, and treble EQ by +/-10, these settings are global across modes. There are several pre-defined EQ adjustments like ‘bass boost’ and ‘treble reducer.’ You can also enable ‘auto-volume’ which will adjust the volume based on your surroundings, e.g. increase it when you’re in a noisy environment. When you take the ear buds out of the case they will announce the battery life remaining as a percentage. You can also view the battery life for each ear bud in the app. The total runtime is advertised at around 7.5 hours on a full charge depending on your listening volume and settings; just note that time will be shorter when you have immersive modes enabled. The included USB-C charging case can deliver up to an additional 19.5 hours of playtime or about 2.5 full charges on-the-go. It charges the ear buds quickly, and they went from 70% to full in just 15 minutes. However, the case itself cannot be charged wirelessly. Each ear bud has two microphones on it that are used for hands-free calls, interacting with your voice assistant, and auto-volume adjustments. On calls, these mics picked up my voice clearly and the other party had no trouble hearing me, though note that in a loud setting you may sound more faint. Also be aware that the open ear design can feel distracting during a call in crowded spaces as I found it hard to differentiate the call audio from people talking around me. Overall, the audio performance from these open-ear ear buds is enjoyable and just about as clear as you can get without having anything stuck in your ears. Hands-free calls have acceptable quality but are best in quiet spaces. You won’t have to take them out to hear what’s going on around you, and the spatial imaging of the Immersive modes is a neat feature. The battery life is ok for true wireless ear buds and with the case and a few short charging breaks can get you through an entire day of use. I found them more comfortable than traditional ear buds over long listening sessions, though if you do start to feel the pressure on the back of your ear, you can simply slide the ear piece a bit for some relief.

I think they need improvement on the aound and placement

This earbuds are fantastic worth every penny thank

So light you don’t remember they’re on if they aren’t playing music. I can sleep with them on for the most part even though that’s not what they’re for. I will say they aren’t loud… I mean they are loud enough to do the job but since they aren’t noise cancelling you are going to hear outside noise. The sound is good and the battery light is pretty great. If I’m listening and fall asleep at night, they stop working around the 7ish hour mark I would guess using one with the other in the case on a full charge.

Truly Wireless Earbuds have been one of my most used and favorite innovations of the past 5 years. They offer a ton of flexibility with work, fitness, or leisure. The new Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are the latest offering in wireless earbuds that push how often you will hear them! PROS: - The design of these are super unique and I was immediately impressed with the look. The fit feels odd at first but the more you wear them, the more you don’t even notice them. Seriously, these are the most comfortable wireless earbuds I have ever had and definitely don’t give me that fatigue feeling. - Setup is fairly simple, as in you just connect them via Bluetooth! If you want to, you can download the Bose Music app that lets you refine your settings a bit more. Although it’s not required, I found it very helpful for me to update my EQ and do any updates needed. - The appeal of these earbuds is that they are “open” which means you can hear everything around you all the time. I found that really helpful when I was working out or out and about. It also does not give you the plugged feeling that normal earbuds give you which really add to the comfort. - The sound is very impressive for not being directly into your ear! I thought the acoustics were rich and the bass was impactful, and I enjoyed listening to music and movies on them! - The call quality is also great which I used during hours or work meetings. Was an easy way to be focused into the call without any discomfort. CONS: - These do not come with wireless charging BOTTOM LINE: - The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are a unique experience with a sole purpose of letting you enjoy your content all day without feeling disconnected on what is going on around you. They offer impressive sound, great battery, and superior comfort. As I said, it is though a unique product that will be for those who are looking for the open design of their earbuds. But for those who are looking for the open feel, this is the way to go!

Decent but not great, especially for the price. The best part about them is the app.

They don’t really hold onto the gear all that well

As an owner of a lot of different Bose products, I have tried some of their past generation earbuds, and every single product they put out is nothing but top quality. Their newest earbuds called Ultra Open-Ear True Wireless Open Earbuds are also of high-quality and innovation, and with that being said, this design is definitely innovative. The best way I can describe these earbuds is, you wear them kind of like someone would wear clip-on earrings, the best thing I can say about them is once you get used to them, you won’t even notice that they are there. Pros: high-quality and good sound. innovative, crisp clear sound, long lasting battery, nice charging case and the app is easy to use and very much recommended. Con: this particular design won’t be for everybody, some people just won’t like them because they are different than traditional earbuds. Since the speaker is not in your ear canal, they are not noise canceling. Also they are not as loud as they could be. The thing is these do get loud because if I push the earbud in further in my ear with my hand, the sound gets extremely loud. But since it just hangs on your earlobe, some of the volume is lost to the environment. Getting used to these earbuds might take a couple of hours but when you do get used to them, you won’t notice that they are there. You won’t feel anything since they are lightweight and you wont feel them tugging on your ear or anything like that. It took me a few minutes to learn how to properly put them on, but once I understood the assignment, putting them on and taking them on off was a breeze. You can even do it one handed. On a serious note, once you are set up with the settings you like, connected to your phone and comfortable wearing these earbuds, something funny happens. As you’re listening to your music and walking around, the music sounds like it is coming from the heavens, that is the best way I can describe what I’m talking about because you don’t put these earbuds directly in your ear canal, and the earbud just kind of hangs on your earlobe while the music is being pumped into your head. In conclusion, I am giving these earbuds 4/5 stars only because the volume just doesn’t get loud enough for my liking. Everything else is just personal preference. Some people will love these, some people won’t care for them.

I wear glasses and was looking for earbuds that I did not have to stick inside my ears. I tried many other brands but found them uncomfotable when I had my glasses on. hese are very comfortable over ear buds they stay in place and you forget you are wearing them. The sound quality is good you can adjust the base and treble and mids when you download the app. I have 2 issues with them the price is kind of expensive I got them on sale so I saved a little but they are really expensive. The other issue is the volume could be a little louder when you are outside or in a noisy area the sound kind of gets lost for the money I paid they should be a little louder. I would recommend them if you wear glasses and need a comfortable ear bud that you dont have to put into your ear.

The sound on these is amazing, I forget I have them on sometimes and you get a near noise-cancelling experience. But I did have issues with them from the very beginning, one of the pieces wouldn’t charge right and then if it was charged, it would have issues connecting, and would just disconnect out of the blue. I ended up going in to do a warranty exchange which was quick and easy. Didn’t do 5 stars because of that experience, paying $300 for headphones that had issues right out of the box is disappointing. On the other hand I was able to exchange them under warranty, so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was just the one lemon. But so far the second pair hasn’t given any issues. I definitely recommend them, just take advantage of that warranty if you run into any issues.

Bought these mainly for cycling. I do 4+ hour rides mainly on the road and have been looking for something to replace a set of Beats Fits Pro because earbuds that fit in ear like the Beats and Airpods Pro irritate my ears after a couple of hours. Have tried out Shokz bone conduction and OpenFit pro and air versions and the Bose Ultra Open from an overall package view is the best of them with a few caveats. Fit and comfort - once you get past the weirdness of putting these on you forget them. They are very comfy and lightweight and stay on your ear even on rough trails Controls - These use buttons and they are great! They use a button rather than touch controls which works when wearing gloves or sweating or in the rain. This is what puts them over the Shokz as the Shokz I found to be fussy using touch controls especially while riding as I found them fussy, limited in features, and inconsistent. Sound Quality - pretty good. Music and audible books sound great maybe a little better than the Shokz OpenFit and Air. Dislikes and Issues: 1) the volume doesn't get high enough - because these are open air type headphones it competes with outside noise (cars, road noise, wind) so in certain situations the sound gets overpowered - I mainly notice this with audio books I just can't hear them at times...music tends to work better. 2) I have had issues with the earbuds just disconnecting. I had to resort to bringing the case with me to put the buds into the case when and if it disconnects to reconnect them. I returned the first set and it might have been a one off as I haven't run into that issue yet with this set. Otherwise pretty good.

As most are probably aware, the Bose open earbuds have certainly gathered its share of attention since its release, especially given that they present an interesting alternative to the ubiquitous closed style of earbuds. In addition to their unique barrel shape, the Bose open earbuds are certainly still positioned that they can still provide quality sound. As an audio enthusiast, I was quite excited to see how these new earbuds would sound and perform. Upon receiving the earbuds, setup was rather straightforward as one would expect. In the box, there is a USB Type-C to A charging cable that is extremely short in length. Unfortunately, there are no written instructions or a quick guide, though there is a QR code directing you to the Bose Music application to complete setup. At the very least, I would have loved a quick guide on positioning the earbuds. Nonetheless, there is a section in settings once you proceed through setup on your phone that will show you how to wear the earbuds. Once setup is complete, the main menu should also be self explanatory: you can change several options such as set your preferred EQ settings, toggle between stereo and immersion modes. Additionally, there is an immersive audio setting, which alters the sound based on if you are stationary or are on the go. You can also create your own shortcut too and link it to either earbud. Overall, I found the application will seldom be used once you have configured the sound to your preference. It will also try and ask you to create an account, which you can skip. It is not necessary. Lastly, on my Sony Xperia V III, there were some other settings for the earbuds that were not listed within the application. For example, I could toggle the Qualcomm APX codec adaptive audio setting, as well as specifically enable/disable audio or phone calls. Moving on, I would like to discuss a few observations I noted during my initial testing. First and foremost, I want to caution people that there will be an adjustment period with these earbuds; they will not only sound different, but will require patience while you fit them to your ears. This is especially true as most people will undoubtedly be coming standard earbuds, so keep an open mind. For me personally, I think the most difficult aspect I had was just trying get these situated correctly into my ear. With the button facing up, these should wrap around ear lobe and into the ear. By habit, I wanted to mash these into my ears but they are not designed as such; instead, they rest right before the ear canal. Unfortunately, there is barely any room to adjust these up or down, as if they are too low or high (within maybe 1/8th of inch depending on your ear size), they pop out. The second issue that I noticed is that my right ear is slightly different in size; by placing finger on either earbud and moving it up and down, I could tell that my left earbud was snug and in place. However, the right side was either not hooking correctly around the inner ear due to either the thickness of my earlobe and/or size of the whole ear; despite aligning them multiple times in the mirror. Lastly, this brings me to the third issue that if the tip of the earbud was a bit more pointed instead of crescent shaped, or if there was a retractable adjustment on the outside, it would have helped alleviate my issue. However, once I adjusted it as best I could, neither earbud fell out of my ear. Additionally, they are quite comfortable; weight wise they are perfect and feel lighter than my other pairs of earbuds. Overall, just be prepared for a lengthy adjustment period. As for sound quality, the open earbuds sound exactly as expected, placing more emphasis on the treble and middle frequencies. If I could describe the sound, I would say that the placement is more up and center as opposed to the sound being more down into your ear canal. Additionally, the bass is light as expected but just enough so that there is still a semblance of the whole song. Even manually adjusting the bass EQ did not yield any drastic change; between its highest setting (+10) to the lowest (-10) I could barely hear a frequency difference (immersive audio was off). With more bass-oriented songs, I was straining to hear any kind of subtle difference while toggling the EQ, but perhaps your hearing will be better than mine. Switching to more classical and soundtrack music, I was even more impressed with the cohesiveness that I could hear; instruments were extremely clear and separation was quite good. I was also quite impressed with how loud these earbuds can get; listening at around 50% on my Sony Xperia, I didn’t feel the need to go louder. Violins and choir vocals were perfectly placed up and center in the soundstage. As for my surroundings, I could still make out conversation, though I did have to drop my volume slightly on my phone in some areas. I believe most should be quite pleased with the sound quality. Clarity was superb and everything sounded consistent across a multitude of genres, especially classical or jazz where their dynamics are still intact and not crushed by compression. Additionally, as expected, the bass is dialed back in favor of highs and middle frequencies. Overall, I think if you set your expectations accordingly, you will be quite happy with the quality, though I still want to caution those that are coming from closed earbuds that the music will sound slightly pulled back, perhaps even a bit thin, but this is normal. In conclusion, the Bose open earbuds provide an interesting alternative to typical closed earbuds; allowing you to enjoy both your music and your surroundings. Additionally, the sound quality was still there maintaining clarity and consistency throughout a variety of genres. Physically, they are certainly unique in design, which despite my initial difficulty with my ears, were extremely comfortable afterwards. They never fell out of my ear nor did I experience any discomfort. As mentioned previously, the open earbuds will require some patience to get used to them, which is why I feel that they are uniquely positioned to certain people; not everyone will like them or their sound. If you are certainly patient and would like to try them, they are indeed worth a look, provided you are content with the caveats I have outlined here.

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds I must say, they have exceeded my expectations in both sound quality and comfort. The audio experience is truly immersive, with crisp highs, deep lows, and a well-balanced midrange. The noise isolation feature works well but not totally providing an uninterrupted listening experience in noisy environments due to the design of the earbuds. The earbuds fit snugly on my ears, and the ergonomic design ensures they stay in place during various activities. One notable aspect is the impressive battery life; I can enjoy hours of music without worrying about constant recharging. The touch controls are intuitive and responsive, allowing for easy navigation and call management. The sleek and minimalistic design adds a touch of sophistication, and the durable build quality gives confidence in their longevity. While they come with a higher price tag, the Bose Earbuds deliver on their promise of premium audio performance, making them a worthwhile investment for music enthusiasts who prioritize quality and comfort.

Comfort and fit is fantastic. Audio quality is great but unlike an ear bud that falls out, these tend to slide up or down just a bit in your ear which makes the sound quieter untill you re adjust. Also the mic quality is not fantastic, its useable at best. Battery life is good at around 6 to 7 ish hours. They are great for working out or running.

These Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are amazing! The sound is crystal clear with rich details, and I love that I can still hear what’s going on around me while listening to music. They’re super comfortable—even for all-day wear—and they don’t fall off easily. Perfect for walking, working, or running errands. The design is sleek, and the battery life is solid too. Bose really delivered!

I have different needs for headsets depending on what listening or speaking experience I am seeking. When I need to be aware of my surroundings but am not in a loud environment, I prefer to use open-ear style headphones. Thus, I was eager to try out Ultra Open Earbuds by Bose. I like open-ear style headphones for conference calls or while on calls in my car, but have been unhappy with the lack of fullness when listening to music and that bass is almost non-existent. However, with these Ultra Open Earbuds, I was pleasantly surprised with how much bass there was. The immersive audio experience was one of the best of all of my headphones, and the best of my open-ear style headphones. Unfortunately the battery life was diminished when the immersive audio was active, and environmental noise had a greater impact on hearing music. I like that Bose chose to use physical button controls, since many of the touch controls on headphones are not very responsive. The ear cuff design is comfortable and was great to wear for long periods of time. These would be great for anyone with small ears where earbuds may not fit or cause a lot of pressure and pain (see photos). The biggest negatives of this headset are an odd resonance sound heard by the phone call receivers and no multi-source use for Bluetooth to date. A few people I spoke with on the phone reported my voice was clear but had an odd, echoey sound, as if I was in an empty room. I would use a different design if I were looking for audiophile sound, wanted crystal clear calls on both ends, or was in a noisy environment. Pros Best bass for open ear design Button controls Great immersive audio experience Comfortable to wear for long periods Cons Receiver hears resonance No multi-source at once for now Not good for loud environments Overall, I would recommend these headphones. The design works well for many ear types and the music sounds great.